Doctors face board specialty expiration dates

For the first time since leaving medical school, many doctors are having to take tests to renew board certification in their fields. The recertification tests are a work in progress. In the future, some boards plan to include assessment of a doctor's communication skills with patients. Eventually, testing may include rating a doctor's technical skills and directly observing performance.

Medical school officials have long said they want a broad range of backgrounds among their students, yet they have had trouble attracting more students from traditionally underrepresented groups. Today, about...

Deaths from medication errors appear to increase in July, perhaps because of the addition of new and inexperienced residents in that month, according to a new study. But many hospitals have implemented...